WAEC Literature in English 2025 Theory — Question 1

Model answer

Allusion is an art of making reference to events and circumstances outside the text used to advance the story; the range spans biblical, historical and literary allusion. After stealing two shillings to buy steak, Adah asks rhetorically about sin and punishment, citing that Jesus condemned stealing but did not condemn her for it. She also alludes to the Bible's Word of God, comparing Francis' preaching to his wife with Adam and Eve, and comparing what Adah imagines of Christian sin-bearing to Francis carrying letters and gold up and down London stairs. There is also biblical allusion to the story of Joseph, and literary allusion to poet William Wordsworth who celebrated birds in his poems — Adah recalls birdsong from Flora Nwapa's writing and insists a black female writer, not an English one, should write about Nigeria. Points to develop: relation to the general theme of the novel; definition of allusion; biblical allusion; literary allusion; historical/contemporary allusion.